


Creature of Habit

by scribblepen



Category: Professor Layton
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 16:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5672818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblepen/pseuds/scribblepen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had become sort of a routine for them, to have chats on the rooftop.<br/>Some were short and sweet, and other times they would talk till the cows came home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Creature of Habit

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was really quickly done, so if you spot some errors, please let me know! Lol I they aren't too out of character.

From where he was posted, Badger could see the rooftops of the market and the Barde Manor peeking from behind. If he turned a little bit to the right, he'd probably get a glimpse of Tweeds buying sweets from Aunt Taffy.  
  
Badger preferred being posted on the rooftop instead of near the woods. It wasn't that he was scared of the woods, it was actually nice. There was a girl there named Marion who knew just about everything on the subject of fish. She had to, anyway, but it was fun for her. Badger didn't really see the point, but that's off topic. The reason he said he preferred staying on the rooftop was because he liked being able to know and see what everyone was doing.  
  
That wasn't the real reason though.  
  
In all honesty, he really just liked being above everyone else. On the soil, he was just plain old Badger who'd probably clam up when a stranger talked to him. On the rooftop, he was more than that. He was truly a Black Raven, _the_ Black Raven.  
  
Well, that wasn't entirely true, since Crow had been the one to come up with it.  
  
Badger would probably say it was the best thing to come from Crow's mind.  
Crow had taken a bunch of nothings, a bunch a street kids who really had no purpose in life other than to pickpocket. He had taken them and turned them into something great.  
  
That was why Badger liked the rooftop. He wouldn't really feel like ever explaining that to anyone because it was a little confusing. He had tried once, to Marilyn, but Marilyn hadn't understood and she was one of the cleverest of the group.  
  
A new reason for liking the rooftop had recently come up.  
  
The rooftop was more accessible and close to the market than the woods, which meant that Crow would take time out of his busy schedule to check on the market with Badger.  
  
Today was unusual though.  
  
Normally, Crow would shout to Badger and ask how things were going, if they were smooth or not. Sometimes he'd even climb up to the rooftop. Not much conversation was started.  
  
Today was a particularly slow day for the market. Even Marilyn only sold one sack of apples. Badger only spotted around five people come and go, and only one of them was deemed worthy enough by Crow to visit the Black Market, but they all figured that one person was no reason to don their costumes.  
  
Crow was still doing his usual check on things with the Black Ravens who were close by. Crow normally checked on them in the order he ran into them, which was almost always the same. It went, Nabby, Gus, Marilyn, Scraps and then Badger. Badger was always last, unless he was in the woods. Then he assumed that Louis was last since Louis would be posted somewhere near the market instead of near the entrance of Misthallery.  
  
Badger was observing Misthallery's rooftops. He could see that one needed fixing, one of its shingles had fell. It wasn't much of a big deal though, Misthallery wasn't the fanciest place. He was about to turn around to see if Tweeds was buying candy yet, when he heard Crow talking noisily to Scraps.  
  
Scraps, as usual, was dismissive. He didn't really like being interrupted, but all the Black Ravens respected Crow.  
  
After Crow finished checking on Scraps, Badger could hear the rattling sound of Crow climbing up the brittle ladder. That sound was amongst Badger's favourite sounds because it meant Crow was taking the time out of his busy day to climb up just to check on Badger.  
  
Crow scrambled on to the tin roof, the soles of his shoes scraping against the roof. He crawled over to Badger. No one except Marilyn and Badger knew why Crow didn't stand up when he was on Badger's lookout roof.  
  
Crow had admitted that it was because he was scared that he'd fall because the tin was bound to let up one day.  
  
"How're things up here goin'?" Crow asked, not bothering to glance at the scenic view.  
  
"Erm, well, I saw'r brother pass by." Badger said. Crow knew that Badger was referring to Ariana Barde's younger brother Tony Barde. He was a cheeky kid. Tweeds didn't like him much, he'd buy all the candy.  
  
Crow nodded thoughtfully and then climbed down the ladder.  
  
Badger got bored after a while, just staring at the market. He wanted to leave, but Crow hadn't told him to. He wasn't sure exactly when, but he had dozed off. He woke up when the sky was dark blues and purples and the clouds were just light blue swirls in the sky.  
  
He was peaceful for a bit, but then an alarming worry hit him.  
  
What if the specter attacked the Black Market that night? He had to leave, but he couldn't see the ladder, because it had blended in with the rest of the building which had blended in with sky. It was foggy that night, but Badger wasn't sure if it was real or fake. He remembered Crow had floated off a theory that all the fog was man-made, used to hide the specter.  
  
Badger didn't dare move. For all he knew, he could be right on the edge. He was about to try and feel his way to the edge, but he heard someone call his name.  
  
"Oi, Badge! S'that you up ther'?" Badger immediately recognized the voice to be Crow's and instinctively relaxed.  
  
"Yeh, 'm up here." Badger replied. "I-I musta dozed off... Sorry Crow."  
  
"It's okay. Was a proper boring day anyway." Crow said. "Mind if I come up?"  
  
Badger could hear Crow climbing up the ladder before he could even say anything. It was probably easier to see when your hair was only blocking one eye.  
  
He heard Crow reach the top with a metallic thunk, and then heard Crow crawl over to himself.  
  
"Ya gotta love Mis'allery at night," Crow said. "B'fore the specter, I reckon you'd prolly find m'up here sometimes."  
  
"Why'd you climb up here then?" Badger asked. "The specter could appear 'ny minute now!"  
  
"Aye, but there's nowt now." Then Badger could hear Crow shrug. "An' I can't just leave ya here all alone. Poor lil Badge, you'd probably get all scared if the specter appeared."  
  
"H-hey, anyone would get scared with that thing!" Badger defended himself. "And- and I was about to leave anyway."  
  
"Well I'm here now." Crow pointed out. "Are ya still gonna leave?"  
  
It was silent for just a bit. All to be heard was the occasional shift of clothing and tin.  
  
"Nah I s'pose not." Badger grinned. "Wouldn't be proper to leave you by yerself."  
  
Crow, gave a friendly scoff and then changed the topic.  
  
"It's especially foggy tonight. D'ya reckon the specter's gon' appear?"  
  
"Hope not," Badger said. "Me dad would be awful worried if he even noticed I wasn't home."  
  
"Do ya wanna give yer ol' man something to worry about?" Crow asked.  
  
"Wh- ah course not! I just- I just said..."  
  
"Then why are you still up here, talking to ol' Crow?" Badger swore he could hear Crow laugh just a bit.  
  
"...I guess I'll be off then," Badger wanted to show Crow that he could leave whenever he pleased. He adjusted his hair so he could see better, then he climbed down.  
  
The next day, Crow climbed up to see Badger instead of just shouting from below.  
  
It happened again the day after that as well.  
  
Badger was quickly realizing that he was never posted by the wood anymore.  
  
It had become sort of a routine for them, to have chats on the rooftop. Some were short and sweet, and other times they would talk till the cows came home.  
  
They would meet up there every other night, but it was slowly becoming everyday. Marilyn and the rest of the Black Ravens wondered why Crow wasn't as alert as he used to be. It didn't really cause a problem though, since Marilyn could cover for him if he needed to grab a short nap.  
  
Their meetings had gone on until the Black Ravens 'disbanded'. It wasn't really a group break up, but Crow had moved to the other side of the country because his mum and himself had finally earned enough to send him off to a proper school.  
  
Nabby had quit right after Crow moved because he had gotten quite bored without his best friend.  
  
Louis moved to the other side of town because he wanted his dad to stop wasting money on things in the Black Market.  
  
All who were left were Wren, Socket, Tweeds, Marilyn, Scraps and Badger.  
  
Badger didn't want to quit, even though it felt wrong and weird without Crow. He convinced himself that the wrong feeling would leave if he kept at it. He wasn't even posted at the rooftop anymore since there really wasn't any point.  
  
Badger wasn't sure why, but he often found himself on the rooftop at midnight. Every night, it felt as if he were waiting for Crow to come up, but he never did.  
  
Marilyn caught him there one night and demanded to know what he was doing there at such a late hour.  
  
Badger shrugged and responded before climbing down for the last time.  
  
"Just a habit, I s'pose."


End file.
